The annual pan-European music contest, which will be put on this year by Sweden’s national broadcaster STV (after Swedish act Loreen achieved a landslide victory in Baku (Azerbaijan) last year), will again bring together the leading broadcasters of the continent each sending an act to represent their nation – though this year the number is a little less than before.

With most of the withdrawing nations citing financial problems as their reason for not competing, the 39 entrants of 2013 is slightly down on the 42 appearing in Baku, and the lowest since 2010, with Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Turkey (who claim to have withdrawn over dissatisfaction with the controversial voting system and the ‘Big 5′ nations) the most notable absentees who have participated in the past.

Regardless of the number of competitors, though, 5-time winners Sweden are still looking to put on a big show, and began with the launch of the official logo and slogan of the event, with a design created by Happy F & B and Forsman & Bodenfors alongside a tagline of ‘We are one’.

Eurovision Song Contest executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand said of the logo launch: “This year’s theme reflects that timeless feeling millions of people will experience in May this year, when Europe comes together to celebrate its diversity. The unprecedented eye for detail that this theme art reflects opens up countless possibilities for three of the best live entertainment shows Europe will see this year.”

He added in December on the confirmation of entries: “Despite the challenging economic situation in Europe a healthy number of public broadcasters are committed to the long-standing tradition that the contest has become. “We regret the withdrawal of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Portugal and Slovakia, which have all cited economic reasons. We are surprised by this decision [from Turkey]. The changes were made in 2009 and were since never formally objected by TRT. We are eager to pursue dialogue with the Turkish broadcaster to seek a viable solution.”

The ‘butterfly’ logo and theme co-incided with the draw for the semi-finals of the 2013 contest, which retains the same rules as last year:

Over the next two months, the competing nations will choose their singers, usually through a televised national contest, though in some cases, such as the UK, the process is likely to be a private selection, and no-one can really be sure where the search to find someone who can perform better than second-to-last-placed pensioner Engelbert Humperdinck, the most recent (and denied) rumours include X Factor/Celebrity Big Brother contestant Rylan Clark, and girl group Girls Aloud working with Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am as producer.

For some countries, the song and/or singer have already been selected, but while some may be doing so in strong faith of their choice, who will perform well enough (or have ‘friendly neighbours’ voting for them enough) to bring the contest to their shores for 2014? Alternatively, in the age of YouTube, you could skip several hours from your week and just watch a recap of all the songs performed along with the winning entry (or your personal favourites), like these ones for 2012: